2.0 (1 rating)
From the Dark Waters and Woods: Stories of Growing Up in the Swamps
Growing up in the swamps of Florida teaches you a lot of things through experience, and many of those experiences leave people staring at me with horrified faces while I laugh at my nostalgic stories of my childhood. Now, dear reader, I will share those stories with you.
Each chapter begins by telling a legitimate story that occurred in my life, or the lives of those close to me, and then it changes, shifts, and delves into the world of beasts, monsters, ghosts, and other nightmares draped in Spanish Moss and hiding amongst the palmettos of my imagination.
Each chapter begins by telling a legitimate story that occurred in my life, or the lives of those close to me, and then it changes, shifts, and delves into the world of beasts, monsters, ghosts, and other nightmares draped in Spanish Moss and hiding amongst the palmettos of my imagination.
Published: October 13, 2023
Pages: 101
ISBN: 9798863255446
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Available in: Paperback
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2.0
1 rating
Read Letter D.
Feb 8, 2026
I DNF'd at 77% because I lost hope and decided I had better books to spend my time with. One good story does not a collection make.
The first story about the giant alligator in the pond was SO good, I was excited to read the rest of the collection but as the stories went on it felt like they got increasingly less edited. Some were so thoroughly splattered with typos I'm not even sure the author did a second read after writing them.
They also seemed to lose focus, while the opener was a nicely structured story, veering seamlessly from her 'real life' story into the fictitious end, others meandered like stream of consciousness and never really went anywhere. Especially when the 'real stories' started to come from friends/relatives it felt like notes were simply taken down and told in some gossip chain around a fairly drunken campfire.
I wanted to love these, as I loved the premise, but the execution really ruined the vibe. I think with editing (on both a developmental and line/copy scale) there is something here, the author clearly has a troubled childhood full of moments to draw from that could really turn into some solid horror tales.
I did get this book during the Terrify Your Tablet event and had I paid for it I probably would have knocked to 1 star.
The first story about the giant alligator in the pond was SO good, I was excited to read the rest of the collection but as the stories went on it felt like they got increasingly less edited. Some were so thoroughly splattered with typos I'm not even sure the author did a second read after writing them.
They also seemed to lose focus, while the opener was a nicely structured story, veering seamlessly from her 'real life' story into the fictitious end, others meandered like stream of consciousness and never really went anywhere. Especially when the 'real stories' started to come from friends/relatives it felt like notes were simply taken down and told in some gossip chain around a fairly drunken campfire.
I wanted to love these, as I loved the premise, but the execution really ruined the vibe. I think with editing (on both a developmental and line/copy scale) there is something here, the author clearly has a troubled childhood full of moments to draw from that could really turn into some solid horror tales.
I did get this book during the Terrify Your Tablet event and had I paid for it I probably would have knocked to 1 star.